Tories will become irrelevant if they keep losing in London |
If the Conservative party can no longer rely on the votes of the Yuppies of today, it will have to become a very different beast to have any chance of continued relevance, says John Oxley
The year might have only just begun, but already London’s big political battle is on the horizon. May will see local elections across the capital, and the city will become a key battleground in the reshaping of British politics. In the more central boroughs, Labour’s dominance will be challenged by an advancing Green Party and independent groups. Reform will be setting its sights on the outer boroughs, and this could be an existential moment for the London Conservatives.
It now seems hard to believe, but for many years, London was a Tory stronghold. At every election from 1979 to 1992, the party outperformed its national average in the capital. At the high point of 1987, the Tories took 49 of the parliamentary seats in the capital. With a deftly chosen route, you could have traversed from Croydon to Barnet without leaving........